ten promises
by aniipie
Summary: ten promises broken, ten promises kept - the life of severus snape, told in twenty broken pieces. .::dedicated to a shade of grey and frayed misfit::.


ten promises xx

**b r o k e n**

_shattered, torn into pieces and left out for the famished vultures…_

**x**

"Do greatness in Slytherin," the Sorting Hat requests. "Change its views of the world." The eleven-year-old nods solemnly, as the hat rips open its brim and shrieks, "Slytherin!"

**xx**

There was always some kind of a mutual respect between father and son. Regardless of how much Mr. Snape beat Eileen, he had never touched a greasy hair of Severus's head. After all, little Severus wasn't too fond of either parent.

He severed the bond when the wand slashed down, green light, and Tobias Snape lay just another dead man on the dry, cracked pavement.

**xxx**

Severus agrees to save twitchy little Avery a seat on the hogwarts express on his very first day there (it's Sev's second year, and he is no longer the twitchy one.)

He forgets all about their arrangement, and Avery sits in a group of squealing fifth-year Ravenclaw girls' compartment instead.

It's just a small, forgettable thought but remembers it he does.

Avery is frightened of the female gender to this day.

**xx**

When Severus was five, he went out in brown jacket and grey galoshes. The hut, full of protesting screams and deafening yells - its presence pushing him against the wall, suffocating him. The cold air was refreshing, almost serene as the snowflakes floated down, soaking his black hair and too-thin clothes.

Trudging through the ice, he discovered a tiny bird, a sparrow chattering in the cold, attempting to wedge itself into the knothole of a frozen tree. Wrapping it in his frigid hands, he muttered to the bird (or to himself because, well, who knows?): "I won't let you leave."

Minutes later, the bird stops quivering.

**x**

"You won't tell the Dark Lord where I've gone?" Karkaroff whispers, fear dancing in his eyes like fire on willow twigs.

"Of course not," Severus replies, his eyes black and blank.

**xx**

The first time Severus visits her house – actually visits, Mrs. Evans opens the door. He knows immediately where Lily got the beautiful emerald eyes, and after a second, where Lily inherited the astounded look. Mrs. Evans looks positively appalled – forehead creased and eyes brimming with confusion, that is, until Lily bounces in and says brightly: "Mummy, this is Sev. Sev, this is my mummy. Wait- one moment Sev, I need to go get my socks." She leaps off, rushing out of the scene.

Severus is left with Lily's mother, an awkward, surprised silence filling their wake.

Mrs. Evans recovers first. "Why don't you come in and wait?" Severus obliges, shuffling into the room onto the handsome magenta carpet. He can't help but feel out of place, can't help but think _so this is where Lily lives, the carpet she patters off before exiting…_

Then, suddenly, Mrs. Evans' face swoops down close: "Listen, dear," she looks about swiftly then back to him, holding tautly onto his thin shoulders, "You take care of my Lily flower, keep her safe, you hear me?" And all Severus can do is keep nodding his head (and wonder why some children are luckier than others), even when Mrs. Evans lets go, even when Lily returns, socks on feet. "You look like one of the head-bobbing japanese kitties," Lily comments, laughing gaily as they walk past the Evans' kissing gate.

It is decades later when Mrs. Evans rests in peace just beyond this same kissing gate.

(but never resting in the corners of his anguished soul.)

-_keep her safe keep her safe keep her safe-_

Lily lies further off, crimson roses circling a little grave in godric's hollow.

**xxx**

"He means no harm," Albus Dumbledore calmly stated to the carelessly handsome, black-haired boy, who in turn rolled his eyes. The white-haired wizard then turned to Severus, who gave a confirming, curt nod. _I mean no harm._

But he does. He does.

**xx**

"We'll be best friends forever right?" Lily asks him, her eyes intense with hope, with trust.

"Sure," he answers, handing her a ham sandwich.

**x**

"I serve the Dark Lord with my life," he vowed, and Lucius leaned forward, almost hungrily – an eerie, almost malicious sneer creeping over his thin, long face, hawthorn wand in hand. When he stood back up, severus's forearm was sizzling, a skull and a snake dissolving into his pale-white skin…

"Very good," smiled the Dark Lord, and severus did not cringe.

**xx**

"Protect her," he breathes, and his head sinks into the bathwater once more, a baptism of bittersweet love.

He never has the chance: the date is October 31st, 1981, and it has begun to darken – already there are little werewolves and witches rapping impatiently on the wooden front doors, screaming "Trick or treat!"

He has certainly been tricked.

**x**

author's note: yes, it's me - anie in the flesh (okay, not really in the _flesh, _but you get me). i know i'm on hiatus and everything, but this just _flowed_. and please, don't read and run - take a moment and **r-e-v-i-e-w**. thank you very much.

the above ficlet is dedicated to **a shade of grey **for all her support and love. ;) thanks to all the people who read it over for me.


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